Prologue

Some people are born average.

They're born, they grow up, they get married, have kids, grow old, and then they die. They're boring. They lead boring lives and they do the same boring thing day in and day out, their only excitement in life is the idea that, perhaps, they'll mix up their dinner choice one night of the week and have spaghetti rather than chicken. They work dull nine-to-five jobs, probably the same one for twenty or so years at time, they drive a boring car and they have a boring spouse. Why? Because it's easy, because it's simple… because it's safe, some people want safe, they like safe. And so they spend their time meandering through their life, going with the flow and taking the easy choices, passing up opportunities and chances because they think 'Is it worth the risk?' And, ultimately, they decide no, it isn't worth the risk. So, when their time comes and they're old and grey, they end up looking back on their lives and thinking 'I wish I'd done this…' or 'I should have done that…' The average, safe, boring person will undoubtedly end up leaving this earth with regrets. Why? Because they were average, they were safe, they were boring.

Some people, however, are not born average.

These people are born, they grow up, and then the strangest thing happens. They live, really live. They take chances, they experiment, they look and they leap, they grasp the world with both hands and they do what they want. These people seek out adventure and charge into the unknown, these people are the explorers, the pathfinders, and the trailblazers. These people are the risk takers and the joy riders. These are the people who, when they are laying on their deathbed, can look back on their lives and say with certainty 'I have lived a full life.'

However, these people's lives aren't safe, they aren't easy, and the most definitely aren't boring. These are the people who gather scars and marks and think 'Just another colour in the painting that is my life'. These are the people who wake up in the morning and think to themselves 'I'm going to do something stupidly dangerous today… because, why the fuck not?'

And that's the distinction between the two groups.

The former will ask, why?

The latter will ask, why not?

At twenty-five, Harry potter could happily say that he was a part of the latter group. This might need some explanation.

You see, this change in Harry first manifested itself during the hunt for the Horcruxes when he was seventeen, though he wouldn't realise this for some time. The constant danger, the excitement, and the almost overwhelming fear of being on the run for a year had changed him. It had made him feel alive, truly alive for the first time ever. Now sure, some people would call this hell, and at the time so had Harry, most people couldn't handle the constant fear and the stress that it brought with it. Afterwards though, that's when Harry realised, with Voldemort dead and the magical world returning to normal, there was no thrill anymore, no fear or excitement. It had become boring.

For a while, Harry figured it was simply the fact that he was readjusting to normal life that was making the world look so dull and colourless. By the time he turned nineteen though, that's when he realised it, that's when harry discovered that the fear and the thrill, the danger and excitement had changed him. It wasn't stressful anymore, all that, it was something else entirely… it was fun.

The rush of it all, the fear and the danger, that's what made it worth it, worth it all. Harry came to the conclusion that he had changed for life, and you know what? He simply didn't give a toss.

Whilst everyone else started trying to put their lives back together, trying to fit back into their dull existence from before the war, Harry was out trying to discover new things, exciting things. This ended up leading him down some odd paths and into some strange places, and he wouldn't change it for the world. Ron and Hermione seemed to cling to each other in the hopes of discovering some form of normalcy, Harry didn't blame them, in truth he was happy for them, if that was what they wanted to do, then why not? It wasn't for him though.

Ginny seemed to want the same thing, only with him, and that was something that Harry no longer wanted. Now that, that had shocked everyone.

"But Harry!" they'd said "you've always wanted to be 'normal'" And sure, he had wanted to normal but that was then, this was now.

He'd shrugged and simply asked what normal was. Was it something people decided for themselves? Or was it just the social expectations placed upon a person?

If it was the former, then he considered himself quite normal for doing what he wanted, everyone else did. If it was the latter, well, he'd spent enough time trying to mould himself to the society's expectations, thank you very much!

Slowly but surely, he'd began to drift away from his friends, yeah he still kept in contact at least once a month, but by the time Harry turned twenty he was hardly what you'd call close with anyone. Sometimes this bothered him, he knew he should probably make more of an effort, but if they couldn't understand that this is what he wanted, then why should he?

That's when his quest for new and exciting things led him down his strangest path so far. Harry had applied for muggle university, probably one of the more shocking things that he'd done to date. Out of everyone, only Hermione understood this, or she thought she did. Hermione believed that Harry was finally thinking ahead in life and trying to develop some form of foot in each world, one in the magical and one in the muggle. That wasn't exactly true though. In reality, magic had somewhat lost its charm. For the last couple of years, it was new and exciting but now, now Harry had seen most of what it could do and was seeking something new. Sure, he still got a pleasant thrill when he mastered a new spell or cast a particularly challenging bit of magic, but it wasn't enough anymore. So, he figured he'd broaden his horizons, so to speak, and branch out into the muggle world. More than that though, he wanted a job. Harry didn't want your average nine-to-five though, he wanted something with adventure, and to get something like that in the muggle world, one either joined the armed forces or got a degree.

Harry did think about military life for a while but he came to the conclusion that, whilst an excellent career choice that provided both excitement and adventure, he wasn't really one for such a regimented lifestyle. That, and what people didn't seem to realise was, military life was seventy percent waiting around, twenty percent cleaning, and ten percent excitement. In the end, Harry decided against military life and set about finding a job with freedom.

The job in question pretty much popped up and punched him in the teeth about a month after successfully acquiring a 2:1 degree a Chichester university. Getting into the university had been quite simple, faking GCSE certificates and A-Levels proved quite simple and he quietly used dobby to slip them into the system. It had occurred to him that he could have simply faked a degree as well, but then where would the fun be? The GCSE's and A-levels were a means to an end, but there would be no fun if there wasn't a chance of failure. And failing his degree course was a very real possibility.

Two years of hard work later though and Harry was quite proud of himself, a month after that he was reeling from the job offer, a rather clandestine job offer at that.

Now, this is when life really got exciting for Harry Potter. You see, this job offer had come from the SIS, better known as MI6, stating that: Harry had impressed one of the covert recruiting agents that were buried in multiple universities across the country. Apparently, his dedication and drive, along with his noticeable craving for adventure had piqued the interest of the recruitment officer and his name had been forwarded to Vauxhall Cross, pending his Degree result. After that, Harry had been quite interested in the potential this offer held. A life of adventure and excitement, at least the illusion of freedom and the thrill of cloak and dagger work, by the time his final interview came about and the vetting process was complete Harry was practically chomping at the bit to get started.

He'd never looked back.

Now three years later, after exhaustive training, he'd been promoted to the special operations department and was now a fully operational intelligence officer. This is what led him to his current situation.

Sprinting down a dirt road in Palestine.

A/N: This Kinda just popped into my head so I thought I'd write it down. I'm quite interested in what sort of response it will garner and I'm also quite interested in what you readers think about Harry's magic. Should he use it? Should he focus on the muggle aspects of life? Should he simply hold magic in reserve for the truly hard things? these are all questions I'd like answers to from you guys. Your opinions count. Now, the general idea is that this will span the overall NCIS story arcs from season three onwards and the prologue is set just before the start of season three. As always, please read and review, your input is essential at this stage :)