I have not read The Cursed Child, nor do I have any plans to. So this story is set after DH, but does not follow the canon epilogue and events of cursed child. I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.
CHAPTER 1
Bright lights filled her vision as she slowly pealed her eyelids apart. Marie examined her surroundings and realized she was in a hospital bed. She tried to move, but a sharp pain in her stomach made her gasp in pain.
"Ah, Auror Potter, you are awake." She turned her head to the right and saw Kingsley Shaklebolt, standing near the doorway. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I just have a slight pain in my stomach. What are you doing here Minister Shaklebolt?" she asked. Suddenly memories of her last auror mission came flooding. She was chasing the suspect down an alley of Muggle London. She was so focused on the suspect, she didn't see another man throw a spell at her. Last thing she remembered was blacking out, before she could utter a spell in defense. That was not her proudest moment.
"I'm here to discuss your auror duties with you, Ms. Potter." He opened the door and John Dawlish, the head of the Auror Department walked in.
"Hello, sir." Marie politely said. She was extremely confused as to what was happening.
Dawlish cleared his throat, "Auror Potter, I need to ask you to take a break from the field."
Marie was quick to protest, "Sir, that is not fair…"
Dawlish raised his hand to stop her from her rant, "Ms. Potter, let me finish." She nodded numbly and he continued, "While you are one of my best aurors, you also have the highest amount of injuries obtained from missions. You have a tendency to act rashly and get yourself in dangerous situations. You are a highly skilled witch, but you have little self-control. There has also been a number of complaints from other aurors, that you take all the interesting missions. I'm asking you to take a break for a little while."
"You are suspending me? I have the highest arrest and completed mission record in my year."
"I'm not suspending you, I'm requesting for you to take a break. If you don't, I will be forced to suspend you." Dawlish answered.
"Please sir, don't make me take a break. I will do anything." Marie begged, she didn't want to take a break.
Dawlish looked at Kingsley and he sighed, "Fine, but I can only give you a protection detail job. Come to my office after you are released from the hospital." Dawlish left the room abruptly.
"I save the wizarding world and this how I get treated." Marie mumbled.
Kingsley sighed, "Marie, you joined the Aurors just after the Battle of Hogwarts. You have been working for five years without any breaks. Either you are on a mission or in St. Mungos recovering. Why don't you take some time off like Weasley?"
She just scoffed and looked out the window. Protection detail jobs were boring and mundane. An auror is basically assigned to the person who needs protection, while the other aurors try to eliminate the threat. She would have to be around the person 24 hours.
"Look, you need to take some time for yourself. I know that you previously had the weight of the wizarding world on your shoulders. However, wizarding world is no longer under a serious threat, you don't need to worry anymore. Think about that and try to relax." Kingsley left the room.
Marie laid back in her bed. She knew that what Kingsley was telling her was true. She felt so guilty for all the deaths, that she wanted to join the Aurors to continue to protect people. While Hermione and Ron were still her best friends, they were recently married and she didn't want to intrude on their life. The only time she would see Ron is when they went on auror missions together. She was so busy with Auror missions, that she didn't have time to meet up with any other friends from school. She barely got to see her godson, Teddy.
Worst of all, she was consistently plagued with nightmares almost every night. Memories of Voldemort and the war just kept coming to her. She couldn't just go to therapy, imagine the newspapers, The Savior in therapy, has she finally lost it?.
She requested some Potion for Dreamless Sleep and got some rest. The next morning she was released with a warning not to overdo the next few weeks as her body was still in pain.
Marie immediately flooed over to the Ministry of Magic to meet with Auror Dawlish. She knocked on door to his office.
"Come in." Dawlish was sitting at his is desk, signing some papers.
"Ah, Potter, have you recovered?" he asked barely giving her a glimpse from his papers.
Yes, sir. I'm here for my next assignment."
He motioned for her to come closer, "Alright, this is just a protection detail job. I want you to take it easy and just focus on your client's safety. This is the client's address." He handed her a paper, "Your assignment starts tonight."
Marie took the paper and left the office. She was still ticked about getting the lame protection detail. She was good Auror, she didn't deserve this. Marie flooed into the Grimmauld Place, which was given to her by Sirius Black.
"Kreacher!" she yelled.
"Yes, Mistress Potter." The old, scraggly elf appeared in front of her.
"Bring me a large trunk, I will be gone for a while." She went to her room and started pulling clothes from her closet.
She eyed the phone in the corner of her room. When she had it installed, it took a lot of convincing for Kreacher not to destroy it. She made a decision and called Hermione.
"Hello?" she heard Hermione answer.
"Hi Hermione, it's Marie." She asked how married life was and how Hermione was doing. She then proceeded to tell her about the meeting with Dawlish and how unfair it is.
"Well, it is true. Since we were kids, you always have acted recklessly and put yourself in danger countless times."
Marie groaned, this was not what she wanted to hear. "Ugh, just let me talk to Ron." She proceeded to talk to Ron. Ron had taken a 3 month leave, for the wedding and honeymoon. He still had about a month before he could return to Auror duty.
"How dare they threaten to suspend you! You are one of the best aurors! I swear when I come back, we are going to march to Dawlish's office and…" Marie smiled as Ron ranted on, this is what she wanted to hear.
The line went quiet for a few seconds, "Marie, while I am outraged, I must confess that taking this break was good for me. I feel relaxed and refreshed right now. Everything in the auror force is so serious all the time. We joined when we were 17 Marie. We were already forced to grow up young because of the war. When was the last time you had fun Marie? While I agree that it is wrong for them to attempt to suspend you, I do think that you deserve a long break."
"Ron, I can't take a long break you know that." She had confided in him about her nightmares and her guilt a year back.
"I understand, but if you need anything let me know." Ron hung up.
Marie sighed and finished packing her trunk. It was time to go meet the client. "Kreacher, help me get to this address." She rattled off the address and Kreacher apparated them and her trunk.
She ended up in front of a large apartment in Muggle London. She straightened herself up and went to knock on the door.
The door opened and familiar pale blonde man came into her vision. "Malfoy?" she gasped.
"P-Potter?" he stuttered out, equally confused and surprised. The two of them stared at each other in disbelief.
AN: If you are wondering how Marie went to her best friends' wedding, because she is always busy. Aurors get the weekend off, like most jobs. However many of her missions overlap over the weekends, so she still barely takes a true break from her job.