Harry Potter – Successful Auror and…Love Doctor?
Unusual spectacles were a daily occurrence in the magical world. Three-headed dogs, Animagus, flat-nosed super villains—but nothing, it seemed, compared to the uproar stirred by a certain lightning-scarred man's sudden decision.
"Yes, it's true," he announced to his shocked wife, sons, daughter, and to the badly concealed Daily Prophet reporter listening in behind the blinds. "I have quit my job at the Ministry to become a love doctor."
And, indeed, he had. For less than twenty-hours after cheerfully resigning his position as Chief Auror, promoting Seamus Finnegan to top dog, and clearing out of the office, Harry had set up plans to run his own love agency at the Leaky Cauldron.
"I shall call it…Potter's Planet," he told his wife giddily—yes, Ginny, couldn't believe it either, but The Boy Who Lived was giddy—as he pored over a thick book on love potions and charms.
"Why?" was all Ginny could squeak.
Harry smiled with a dreamy look on his face, convincing his wife more than ever that he had simply lost his sanity. "Ginny, I can't explain how I know this, but I'm finally doing what I was meant to do."
"No, you were meant to defend against the dark arts, not lovers' spats," Ginny snapped, starting to grow angry as the initial shock wore off.
Harry merely turned the page and replied serenely, "Oh, Ginny, you will understand one day."
Ginny, who did not understand and did not wish to understand, left soon after to stay over at her brother Ron's house, where he and Hermione theorized that all those years of battling increasingly evil creatures had finally taken its toll on their old pal.
Never one to heed what others thought, Harry proceeded with his plan, setting up a love booth with enthusiastic permission from Tom, the barkeeper. Soon, screaming crowds of fangirls and fanboys alike pummeled the Leaky Cauldron, delighting Tom with the spike in sales, and bombarding the self-proclaimed love doctor with requests to amend (or in some cases, create) their love lives.
"Mr. Potter, I accidentally turned my boyfriend into an African water hippo! Do you think we can still f—"
"Dr. Harry, this bloke sort of half-glanced at my foot once…does he like me?"
And etcetera, etcetera. If any member of the Potter family was worried about their financial state after Harry resigned as Auror, they needn't have concerned themselves; in fact, demand for Harry's advice skyrocketed income to all-time highs. Life had never been better for the Potters—well, except for Ginny, who, far from living a fairytale life, was still huddled up at her brother's house trying to keep her sanity.
Everything was dandy until Harry happened to glance up one day into the face of an old flame.
He gulped. "Cho…Chang?"
The Asian beauty fidgeted before him, red-faced. "Hello, Harry," she mumbled. "I wanted…well, you see, Roger and I have been fighting a lot lately…and….well…we're sort of taking a break…"
She looked at Harry expectantly, but the love doctor's mind was frozen, as it usually was whenever he ran into Cho. It wasn't so much that he was still attracted to her—more like, the atmosphere became so awkward around his ex that he didn't know how to respond, like if he was supposed to talk or run.
Still, he was the love doctor now! He had to pull himself together. Nodding, Harry forced a smile, tried to appear astute, and said, "Muh-hooey."
He expected her to be confused, or perhaps to leave to spare herself the awkwardness. What he did not expect was for Cho to lean over and kiss him. Admittedly, it was only on the cheeks, but it was still rather inappropriate for two married people. Moreover, a certain red-haired woman walked into the bar at that precise moment and witnessed the entire spectacle.
Ginny still didn't understand Harry's decision, but she returned after deciding to support her husband's new lifestyle. However, that support did not extend to him flirting with other women. She felt her blood boil and her ears turn deep maroon, a surefire sign that the Molly Weasley within her was about to unleash itself.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" she bellowed, charging through the crowd of people as if it wasn't even there. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
Harry shoved Cho onto the ground and stammered, "I—I—didn't—Ginny, you've got the wrong end of the—"
"I KNOW WHAT I SAW, SCARFACE!"
Even Cho, who now truly regretted her blunder, tried to (vainly) calm Ginny down. "Listen to me, that didn't mean anyth—"
Ginny turned toward her old rival with murder, arson, and Voldemort's spirit in her eyes. "No, you listen to me, scarlet woman—you're married now! If you're in the mood for it, GO SNOG YOUR OWN HUSBAND!"
Harry thought that was a bit of an overreaction, considering they hadn't exactly been snogging, but before he could interject, Cho Chang sobbed, "That's just it! Roger and I haven't spoken in weeks…I still love him, but I don't think he loves me…"
Ginny quieted at the blubbering of her old nemesis, and then she turned to Harry with a no-nonsense look on her face. "Harry, we're going to find Roger Davies," she ordered.
Harry, who was still trying to erase the last ten minutes from his mind, stuttered, "Right now?"
"No, after Lord Voldemort gets revived again."
"Oh, okay. Phew."
"OF COURSE RIGHT NOW!"
And so the threesome set off in the direction of Diagon Alley, looking very odd indeed with the Chosen One petrified to have been chosen for this particular mission, the red-haired Weasley silently stewing in anger, and the awkward third wheel quietly third-wheeling all the way.
The situation, Harry knew, was vain. They were looking for a man who could literally be anywhere, from Paris to Princeton to Papua New Guinea. If Roger Davies had a speck of intelligence on him, he would not hide in Diagon Alley. He would go somewhere far away. He would —
"Harry?"
An unshaven, dirty man toddled his way toward the threesome. Harry was about to shake him off, thinking it was another crazed fan who recognized him from pictures, when Ginny stepped closer, squinted, and exclaimed, "Roger!"
How she recognized that mess as the former Ravenclaw was beyond Harry, but, by the looks of it, Ginny was spot on. The man nodded solemnly, and Harry again marveled at the state of his old peer.
Davies wasted no more time with formalities, pleading, "Harry, I heard you're a love doctor now. I need your advice. You see, my wife and I have split…"
Harry, confused, said, "But Cho is right h—" until Ginny gave him a smack on the head and mouthed, "Let her listen to him."
Davies continued jabbering on, oblivious to the little exchange that just happened. "I didn't realize how big of a role she played in my life until she left. I mean, there's nobody to cook, wash the dishes, do the laundry—"
"Get to the point," Ginny hissed, shooting a nervous glance behind the nearest snack trolley, where Harry supposed Cho was hiding.
"But most of all, there's no joy," Davies confessed brokenly, real tears forming in his eyes. "I know this sounds cheesy, but without Cho in it, my life is empty."
It was then that Cho stepped out from behind the trolley, nearly giving Davies a heart attack. "Did you really mean that?" she asked shyly.
Davies suddenly didn't seem to know where to look. "Ch-Cho! Did you…um…hear all of that?"
"Well…yes. Um...did you mean all of it?" Cho blushed, a blood red matched only by Davies' own flaming cheeks.
"Of course I did."
There was a silence that stretched for approximately three heartbeats, and then the two collapsed in each other's arms despite the stench around Davies, sobbing their apologies.
Harry and Ginny smiled at each other, but then quickly looked away when they remembered they were still fighting. Then, before she realized what was happening, Ginny felt a warm hand move over her own, gripping it firmly.
"You better not cheat on me again," was her only reply, the closest to forgiveness Harry Potter would ever receive from his wife.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Harry told her truthfully, "as long as you admit that being a love doctor is surprisingly satisfying."
"Don't push it, Harry."
And the two walked hand-in-hand down the street, forgetting about the fight over Harry's work for one day.
Potter's Planet - Double the Service, Double the Speed!
A new sign went up the next day, to cheers from the customers. Turning his head, Harry glanced knowingly at his wife, his love, and his new business partner, Ginny.
"Oh, shut up and do your job," the redhead grumbled. But secretly, she was smiling with the thought of the love miracles to come.
And Harry smiled, too. After all, for the Potters, life had never been lovelier.