When Harry Potter woke up on May 3, 2008, he was cut off from the world. He had de-owled himself, left behind his cell phone, and almost felt peaceful in the mountains, despite the knowledge that he was in a very dangerous situation. In the 10 years after defeating Voldemort when he was only 17, he had lived his life in and out of London, usually on a private investigation, or one given to him by the magical or Muggle government. He had no boss, no wife, and the only thing that kept him tied to England was his godson, Teddy, to whom he was the primary guardian. He shared this responsibility with the Grandmother, but since she had married Kingsly, they had Teddy living with them. Harry winced at the thought and berated himself for feeling lonely and self-pitying. He got straight out of the cot, and began to get ready before the sun rose.
This week, he was on a mission to uncover documents for a French family. They wouldn't have needed him, except that they had been buried in the Alps and protected by several different magical reinforcements eons ago. But, Harry could get past nearly anything. There were incredible barriers for miles around the mountain and he had spent all day yesterday running to the secluded spot. He set up camp, slept for a little over 4 hours, and was refreshed enough to head into the mountain. The last person sent on this mission, his French colleague Richard Laurent, hadn't returned. It was the only reason he took the otherwise-meaningless mission. He didn't have a death wish, just a thirst for a challenge.
After hours of searching for the entrance, he headed into the mountain, oblivious to the fact that the world just changed.
Hermione Weasley woke up to the house phone ringing at the early hour of 6:00 a.m. The only person who ever called their phone line was her parents, and she jumped out of bed suddenly to answer it. She knew it must be an emergency. Ron groaned in bed and she sped across the room, hoping to keep both her husband and infant son sleeping.
"This is Hermione," she said softly as she wandered into the hallway, heading for the kitchen.
"Get to my place quick," her mother said. Thinking the worst, she apparated immediately. While Amy Granger was still on the phone with her daughter, she was suddenly in the living room. Hermione was taken aback by the very loud television, the strong scent of coffee, and the fact that her parents both looked alive and well. She was confused as to why she needed to arrive at her parent's house, ready for emergency and in her nightgown, until she looked at the television screen and saw Kausayla, the witch that was wreaking havoc in Southeast Asia.
The breaking news headline read: SORCERESS BEHIND INDONESIAN DISASTER
"Fuck," Hermione breathed. She summoned the remote from her father without a wand, and went ahead one channel. MAGICAL COMMUNITIES REVEALED WORLDWIDE read the headline. Hermione started pacing as she listened to the newscaster.
"—video, the witch destroyed the parliamentary building with a wave of her wand. Yes, her magical wand. Surrounded, in green cloaks, by her supporters who have been killing citizens on the streets."
Hermione thanked her parents and rushed home. As soon as she arrived, she dialed her best friend Harry's mobile phone. It went straight to voicemail and so she cursed again. "WAKE UP!" She yelled at her husband. "Wha' for?" he mumbled.
"How can you be asleep at a time like this! You lazy git!" She screamed. While Ron Weasley was quite used to his wife yelling things at him which made no sense at all, he was unable to ignore her when he was thrown out of bed with a flick of her wand.
"I'm getting in the shower," she announced as she began stripping her clothes. "Take Rosie and Hugo to your mother's and then you'd best get to the ministry as soon as possible." Ron had no idea what was going on and headed into the nursery shaking his head. He really had married a mad woman.
Within a few hours, Ron was on the telly, standing nearby the Minister of Magic and the muggle Prime Minister. Both had addressed the large crowd of muggles who were shocked to know that there was an entire magical community hidden. There was a mix of fascination and anger. Generations of families were deceived into thinking magic didn't exist. Now, they were being told dragons and unicorns were real, that their cousin's sister-in-law was a witch, and that nowhere was safe to hide from these sorcerers. They could enter locked houses, wipe out your memory, dodge bullets with a single spell, and kill you on the spot.
People were terrified.
It was released almost as soon as the big news itself, that the last dark wizard or witch was in the U.K. That ten years ago, the natural disasters, plagues, and freak accidents were caused by the purebloods of the nation. People who had lost family members to the list of disasters caused by Death Eaters were already discussing on online forums how to get compensation and justice from the magical community.
The "Wicked Witch of the East" had most of Southeast Asia in her realm, and there was no doubt that it would soon expand to India and central Asia. Even magical government and intelligence knew that the strong Indian government was ready to fall soon.
The Minister of Magic, Biron Morehause, was shaking as he addressed the muggles and cameramen. He gave a quick speech that was meant to fascinate the non-magical community through magical creatures, flying carpets, owl post, and magical towns like Hogsmede that served chocolate that warmed your insides and were surrounded by magical woods. He talked about potions that could fake death, spells to bring loved ones out a coma, and credited the United States' University of Magic with mending the hole in the ozone layer.
After his worthless speech based solely on PR, he took questions from the front of the crowd, made up of reporters:
"Can you cure AIDS?"
"What portion of your community is muggleborn?"
"What part of the magical community is funded by the government?"
"Can you duplicate British pounds?"
"Who defeated the last dark wizard?"
"Do you think he could defeat the Witch of the East?"
"Yes," Morehause answered, "many have said that he's our best chance."
Four days after the beginning of his mission, Harry returned home. He apparated to his small cottage in Southwest England. It was empty, and so he dropped his pack down and got a glass of water. He took out a meal he prepared before leaving (kept fresh under a stasis charm) and it was warm with a tap of his wand. He settled down in a chair and waited for a Weasley or Andromeda to come check on him. He often came back from missions injured or half-dead.
It was only a moment before Ginny walked through the door, relieved to see he was alive and well. His heart still did a double-take. "How was it?" she asked.
"Boring," he replied, "total waste of my time! I needed family blood to get into the vault, so if I do it again, I'll need to take one of them." He made a face of distaste while thinking about the snobbish family. "Want some primavera?" He asked, nodding at the bowl of pasta.
"No thanks, you've missed a ton of action." She sat down at the table while Harry summoned a glass of water for her.
"Explain." She threw down a Time magazine, complete with his face on it, and the headline Who is Harry Potter, hero of the wizarding world? He nearly choked on a piece of zucchini and flipped the magazine open.
"This is a Muggle magazine!" He exclaimed, and she nodded. "Kausalya was videotaped destroying Jakarta. She flattened the city and it was all over every major muggle news station and—"
"No fucking way!" he was reading an article and it caught his eye right away that not only had the British minister said he was the best chance to defeating Kausalya but then the American secretary of magic backed him up. (Damn him! He thought. They were pretty good partners through some tough issues. He should have known better.)
The article was read through quickly and the author poked fun at the fact that he was best the wizarding world could do.
He hardly cared about being bashed in mMuggle magazines. After 15 years of dealing with it in his own community, it no longer mattered. He knew the press would eat him alive. He then remembered that his muggle girlfriend was probably freaking out. He groaned.
"It's not that bad," Ginny said, "It's the Americans anyway, the British press have said dry, dull things about you." She chucked more magazines at him.
"No, it's Jane."
"Fuck."
"Yeah, she doesn't even know I'm a wizard, now she has to hear all of this crap."
"It's so over."
"Don't be so damn optimistic. Anyway, you're still married." Ginny smirked.
"Unfortunately." They sat there awkwardly for a moment and she leafed through the newspapers. "Everything is crap, we don't even have sex anymore. He's such a jerk. Plus, he keeps coke everywhere."
"Weren't you just saying that Colin has started walking around and getting into everything?"
"Heh—exactly, I've been getting on his case about it and we've been fighting constantly."
He sighed, "I should go do damage control." He decided to do personal stuff first, then get to the Ministry. He'd gotten into trouble in the past by putting work first. He sent Jane a text.
Back in town, where are you?
Wb. Allie's place.
We need to talk, I'll be over in 30?
No shit. See you then.
He had thought at length about the wizarding world being in this situation and spent several weeks 3 to 4 years ago putting together a proposal for how to handle the situation. He would have to update it immediately. He sent an owl with the proposal to the Minister and jumped in the shower.
He was a little happy knowing that Ginny and Alex weren't even shagging. At the same time, Ginny not having sex was a waste. But, he shouldn't think about sex with with Ginny, who had now moved on. They clearly both wished that things had worked out differently, but he screwed everything up in typical Potter fashion.
He focused on Jane instead as he washed up. She was ok with him being a famous (or was he infamous?) wizard. She didn't remember this, because he had to put a memory charm on her, but when he told her at the time, she was enthusiastically for it. She also thought he was a "warlock," in terms of the occult, he never went at length to describe it but it explained the random cloak that might have been accidentally left in on the couch.
Then, there were his muggle friends. He worked with British Intelligence a lot, and now his bosses and co-workers knew. He thought about Teddy's muggle friends and their parents. He had other muggle friends; he had his running group and Jane's friends. This was the first time he thought about how many of them he spent time with. Clearly, he craved normalcy.
He tried him best to look nice for Jane, hoping it would ease her anger. He tried to tame his hair and flattened it across his forehead, covering his scar. He no longer had the glasses from his youth, his vision improved by muggle surgery. He wasn't known for being very attractive, but he had striking features that made him interesting to look at. He also took good care to keep fit, and so he had a body of a professional athlete. He had a few tattoos and several scars he acquired over the years. He liked that he looked like someone that you should not mess with, rather than a short, skinny, pathetic orphan.
As he got ready, Ginny lingered, sitting nearby as they practiced what he would say. "And then, you should just shag her senseless. And, if you want to practice that too, I'm a willing participant." She winked at him. He hated when she used the same flirtatious charm with him that she did with other men.
"That's twice today." He paused. "You aren't having an affair, are you?"
"No, anyway, if I wanted to have an affair with anyone... it'd be you." She smiled sweetly and he rolled her eyes.
"You need to get laid, don't come back here till you do."
She kissed him on the cheek. "You're arse looks great in those jeans."
"Get out already."
She smirked and then apparated. He had some kind of sick satisfaction that she still wanted him and he audibly groaned. They were supposed to be together after the war, but they needed time, she needed to finish school. Then, he worked too many hours, fell into a post-war depression, went abroad to try and get better. They were awkward after years of being apart but still having feelings for each other. When they considered trying to act on them again, he was pulled away for a few months for a mission and he returned to find her knocked-up by one of her Quidditch team-mates.
He never dated much, he was too paranoid that witches all had bad intentions, as rich and famous as he was. No one seemed like they would be able to fit into his life. After he quit the Ministry, he did contract work and even took up with muggle Intelligence on behalf of the Prime Minister. That's where he met Jane. They were partners, and she was young, tough, smart as hell, and the only person he's met that had a worse childhood than he did. She challenged him in almost every way. She was better than he was. She was even more socially awkward and didn't believe in small talk and bull shit. He was pretty sure that he was in love with her. He'd also lied every other time they spoke—her being a muggle and all.
He was happy to apparate to Allie's house, and not have to worry about the muggle facade. He knocked on the door and within a few minutes Allie opened it. She lived in a group house in London and was one of Jane's only friends.
"Hello, most famous wizard!" Allie was a small ball of energy. "Harry's here!" She yelled into the house. "I don't believe you kept this from us." She gave Harry a hug.
"I know, I had to— it was the law. Do you hate me?"
"Not at all. Beware, Jane is in a strop, but she's really been getting it thick from her parents—"
Jane showed up to the doorway and Allie mouthed good luck. Harry was glad that Allie took it so well. Jane motioned for him to enter the house. "Should I put on tea?" Allie asked. Harry replied "sure" and then looked hesitantly at Jane. Her light brown hair was messy, even though it was only inches long and her side-swept bangs pinned back. She had no make-up on and a pair of sweat pants and a white tank-top. Jane had a very sweet face and was quite tiny, and she made up for it with some well-placed tattoos, several piercings, and a pixie haircut.
She sighed and sat down on the ottoman. "I did tell you about it all, really. I just cleared it from your memory after." He took out her wand. "Can I refresh it for you?" Her blue eyes opened widely as she took in the wand. "Put that away!" she yelled, standing up. This was not going well. He did so immediately.
"I'm sorry! Too much too soon. OK. Well, first, how angry are you at me?"
"Do you have any idea what I've been through? Your mobile was off. You're all over the newspapers. I've been humiliated! I've been dating you for almost two years and nothing about the fact that you just happen to be a famous, powerful, wizard!"
This was really not going well.
"Now, that's not true," he said calmly. "As I told you, I did say something; I just had to do a memory charm. You were very curious and enthusiastic about the idea! True, at the time, it would be something we kept from everyone, but now I don't need to lie anymore. And, I've mentioned before things about witchcraft, you just assumed, as I'd hoped, that it was some something personal and unorganized. Now, I'm sorry that it was humiliating and people have a tendency to love to hate me, and write awful things, but it doesn't really matter, does it?"
"Doesn't matter? I feel like I don't even know who you are and everyone has been asking me questions— I need to process all of this. You can imagine that I feel quite vulnerable, how do I know that you haven't performed any magic on me? How do I know that if I broke up with you, you wouldn't put me under some spell that would take away that free will?"
Jane was the only person he'd ever known that was smarter than Hermione. He hadn't thought that her finding out about this would scare her, a whole world she knew nothing about. Of course she felt vulnerable.
"First, that's highly illegal and you know me well enough to know I wouldn't take away your free will. What an awful idea. What, you'd think I'd rape you?" He was angry now.
"You've done nothing but lie to me, how am I supposed to trust you?" She screamed, and he thought that he saw tears starting to form.
"Well, if that's the type of person you think I am then maybe I should leave."
"Ahem," Allie was standing at the door. "Let's stop screaming and have a spot of tea, eh?" She beckoned the two of them into the dining room as they glared at each other.
"So Harry," Allie began eagerly, "when did you know you were a wizard? You were raised by normal people right? What do you call us again?" The three of them sat down at the small round table.
"Muggles, and yeah, I was eleven. I had always made weird things happen, but I didn't know I was doing it! My Aunt and Uncle hated that I was a wizard and so I would get in trouble for things I couldn't control.
"When I was eleven, Hagrid (he laughed) a half-giant came to tell me I was a wizard and take me to get school supplies. He was so angry that they hadn't told me that he threatened them and gave my cousin a pigs-tail! It didn't go over very well.
"Then I started at Hogwarts, a secondary school, and learned I was famous and about the magical world. It was very strange. Until then, I was invisible, and all of a sudden all these strangers knew my name. I had a hard time adjusting."
Jane was still angry and silent, looking down at her tea while stirring it. Allie looked half fascinated and half uncomfortable. "So where have you been the last week?"
"Lost inside a mountain trying to open a French family's vault." He rolled her eyes. "I used to work at the Ministry of Magic, but then I decided that I didn't want to represent them anymore. They killed one of my close friends and nothing was done about it just because he was a vampire (Allie choked on her tea).
"I was already working some for the muggle government. So, now I just do some contract work, and then work with a few organizations that I actually support. It keeps life interesting. I also do my own research projects, write articles, and I actually wrote a whole proposal on integrating the magical world with the muggle world since I know both so well. I just sent it off to the ministry, though it needs updating, but yeah, that sort of thing."
"I wasn't lying when I said I was just a consultant."
"What have you lied about?" Jane asked.
"Loads, unfortunately. By now, you know about Lord Voldemort. He killed my parents when I was just a year old, and when he tried to kill me the curse rebounded and destroyed his body. He was still alive and returned in '94. They didn't die in a car crash. I never finished Hogwarts, and there is no real reason for me to go to college. The Prime Minister knew about the Magical communities, and I always was the one who updated him on our recovery. That's why I help out at your offices too.
"You've met my friends, all of which lied about their jobs, of course. Teddy has a natural ability to change what he looks like. He actually has light brown hair, dark eyes, and slightly upturned nose. I'm not related to him at all." Jane was suspicious when she met the Weasleys, since Teddy would often make himself look like a perfect mix between Ginny and Harry. He had lied about why Teddy had his exact green eyes.
"Ron, Hermione, and I have been best friends since we defeated a mountain troll at eleven. We've had several adventures, most included one of us nearly getting killed. They both hunted down bits of Voldemort's soul with me when we were only 17, 18 years old." He shrugged. "I'll think of more later."
"Oh, and I can do things like become invisible, break into your apartment, and suddenly appear across the country. I've probably lied about where I was and how I got there many, many times."
Jane and Allie were quiet. Allie spoke first. "That's really fascinating. What do you think about the wizarding world being revealed to us muggles?"
"Honestly, I found out less than 45 minutes ago, I'm still trying to process it. Not everyone is like me though, my friend Ron still doesn't understand how phones work. Most wizards and witches are completely oblivious to what goes on in the magical world. Many have been raised and brainwashed to think that because they're magical, they're better than you. It's going to be a very difficult situation to handle.
"Well, I'll leave you two to it then," Allie finished her tea and got up to put the cup in the sink. "Before I leave, can you just do something for me?" Harry looked at Jane, who looked uneasy. He took out his wand and simply levitated the table; the two girls looked on in awe. "Very cool," Allie smiled. "See you later and Jane, please go easy on him." Jane shrugged. The two sat in silence for a few moments.
"I'm sorry for what I said, you would never do that." She said softly. "As you can imagine, I've been thinking about this way too much, coming up with a bunch of ridiculous ideas. I just feel betrayed, Harry. I feel like an idiot. I was scared, because you have enemies that I have no ability to defend myself against and soon people are going to learn about me. I'm completely out of control here."
"For a control-freak, that must be pretty hard," Harry said with a smirk. "Jane, I love you, I do. And I never lied about that I promise you."
"But, what am I to you? Why did you even bother with me?" She looked down at her tea.
"You were a breath of fresh air, I could never date witches because they all seemed so insincere. But, you— you weren't easy, sometimes you're still a mystery to me, you still challenge me... believe me I didn't mean for this to happen. I never meant to complicate your life so much." He sighed. "I should have stayed away from you, I'm sorry."
"Don't you dare apologize, I— I just need some time. I needed to hear all that. I've been trying to wrap my head around all this and it's difficult. Can I just have some time, please?"
"Of course, take all the time you want." He finished his tea. "What are we then? Are we still together, or on a break, what?" She took a while to answer. She sipped her tea, she wouldn't look him in the eye.
"I—" her voice cracked "I don't want to lose you." Harry smiled, and let out a breath that he wasn't aware he was holding. "That's good to hear."
"OK, I don't cry. Please leave already."
"I once remember you telling me that you didn't have feelings." He smirked, Jane would have been in Slytherin. "I changed that, didn't I?"
"I'll call you when I need to talk to you. If I'm making you wait too long and you need an answer or you want to break up with me then just let me know."
"I don't want to lose you either," he said urgently. "Please call and let me know what you're thinking. I might be able to help you clarify some things." He stood up and she followed, walking him to the door awkwardly.
"Can I please give you back that memory?"
"How do I know you aren't implanting one?"
"Because you trust me." She narrowed her eyes at him and then nodded. He smiled and with a flick of his wand he removed all her memory charms.
"Remember, call me if you need anything." She looked rather dazed. "I already put wards on your apartment, you're safe there."
He quickly kissed her, relishing it for a moment, and then left the house so that she'd have time to process her new memories.
After a month of finally admitting to each other that there were feelings involved in their "partners with benefits" relationship, he'd gone with her to a family party. Jane Tabbard's family was very well off and she'd fought against her privileged upbringing for years (hence her appearance). He was meeting her parents, a rather large step in the new relationship and getting along with them very well. Her older sister, Rose, was married to the younger son of a Duke. Harry, with no family, wasn't exactly considered a great catch.
They stayed at his cottage for the first time (usually they spent the night together at her flat in London) and he gave her a tour. He pulled out the emerald green book, opening up a passageway to the basement.
"You're kidding."
"Oh come on, every kid dreams about having a secret passageway! I built the place and so I wanted to add this very clichéd element. Please come down with me."
She laughed and skipped down the steps.
"Wha—?" She looked at him to the cauldron and back again.
"This is where I do potions work, the cabinet to your right is where my stock is. Why don't we head into the main room."
"Harry..." He pushed her forward. She walked into a large room with bookcases as walls and began to walk around. He noticed her eyes drifting toward the moving pictures, the crystal ball, the broomstick hanging up on the ceiling. She picked up this morning's edition of the Daily Prophet. If he remembered correctly the front page read that the Galleons to Pounds exchange rate was up 2.4%.
"I— I don't understand."
"I'm a wizard."
She smiled. "A wizard? Really? Harry what kind of joke is this?" She put down the paper. He took out his wand.
"Expecto Patronum," a silver stag erupted from the wand and ran over to her. She suddenly looked terrified.
"Jane, please don't freak out." She took a deep breath. She nodded, as if speaking to herself and then looked at the stag, now almost nestling up to her.
"It's beautiful Harry," she hesitantly put a hand out and placed it on the stag's neck. Her hand went right through it.
"Sit down, please, would you like some pumpkin juice? It's quite popular in the wizarding community." She nodded and walked to the study table and sat in a wooden chair.
Harry grabbed a pitcher of juice from the cooling cabinet and walked back over to the table with two glasses. He waited to start explaining until when he sat down. He tried to cover everything, starting when he was 11 years old. He explained about the Dursleys, Hagrid, Hogwarts, Voldemort, and the prophecy. He told her about being famous, the war, and its aftermath. She was very quiet and attentive.
"I am not allowed to tell you this until we're engaged to be married. But, I wanted to you to know what you're getting into and agree that we should stay together because I really want this to work out. And, I'll need to put a memory charm on you, you won't remember any of this. But I'll know that you want in and that we're not wasting each other's time."
"Can I think it over tonight? In the morning, I'll tell you and you can wipe it from my memory." He hesitated, this was already illegal. To wait a whole 12 hours, when she could tell someone or write herself a reminder, was really risking it.
"Sure, we can have tonight."
He spent hours describing his adventures as they lay curled up in his loft. Making love seemed more intimate, now that she knew everything. He even told her more about him and Ginny, about how all his friends turned Grimmauld place into a group house and that they all left in the coming years, in couples and singles until he was alone. He couldn't stand it anymore, and so moved into the cottage. She asked great questions and wished that she could retain all this information. She wanted to read his whole library and research spells and magical creatures. It was unfair that she lacked the magical skill to gain access to that world.
Before falling asleep, she told him that she had made up her mind that she was in. She wanted him despite the fact that he was a famous wizard and that if they married one day her life would change completely. She understood. He kissed her, and after she'd fallen asleep he wiped it all from her memory.