Chapter One:
Knock First
A tall man walked down the sidewalk. He was now about twenty four years old. His jet black hair was a usual messy style, and he constantly wrote upon a clipboard. Harry Potter was a new man, and a very successful Auror for the Ministry of Magic. He walked down the sidewalk, and into a small telephone booth that currently said "Out Of Order" but Harry didn't care.
He stepped inside. He dialed a few numbers, and a charming voice of a woman answered the call. Harry listened to her for a minute. He stepped closer to the phone receiver and dialed once more. A different voice came into his ears.
"State your reason." The woman said, she talked as charmingly as the other.
"Harry Potter, Auror." Harry said in a deep voice.
"Thank you, please retrieve your badge." The woman said before hanging up.
Harry took the small silver badge from the receiver's slot. He pinched the tiny clamp and clipped it onto the front of his shirt. He felt the bottom of the telephone booth quake as it moved down into the mysterious depth of the Ministry of Magic.
Harry, still scratching away at his clipboard, walked forward and up the stairs. He had shown up in the main office. The lady at the desk greeted him sweetly while he gave a nice wave. Harry no longer wore glasses; he used a muggle custom called "contacts." No one thought it was a very good idea, but he didn't care.
He walked to the elevator, pushing the button number eight and waited. He counted down as the elevator moved up and down, sideways and back, and even diagonal. With a slight 'ding' he was on his destination floor. He took a sharp left out of the elevator and walked down the hall.
"Ah Harry, good to see you old chap!" Said a man with fire blazing, red hair. He was shorter than Harry, and was balding.
"Oh, hello Arthur, how are things in the muggle world?" He asked politely.
"Good Harry, very good." He informed. "But I'm getting new pranksters everyday. I am currently trying to find out who is behind the exploding squirrels gag." He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Kids."
"Yes, they seem to be doing a lot now. I actually found a fake wand on my doorstep today. I thought it was my own, silly me." Harry said with a laugh.
"Well it was nice talking with you Harry, but I must get back to my office." Arthur said nicely.
"Alright, see you Arthur." Harry smiled, walking past him.
He walked down slim hallways and took a right. He came across a set of double, black doors. He pushed it open, into a room of brightly colored gold. The floor was the color of the nightly sky, inky blue – black and Harry walked across it. This room was divided into sections.
He sat at his cherry wood desk with a relaxed voice. He pushed himself across the floor a bit, so his rolling chair could position itself directly in front of the desk. Harry let out a sigh, analyzing his clipboard, he began writing again.
"Hey Harry." A boy who looked much like Arthur but a lot younger said. He sat at the desk that faced Harry's. Harry looked up from his work.
"Hey Ron." Harry greeted.
"Sorry I'm late, I lost my paperwork." He laughed.
"That doesn't surprise me." Harry laughed.
"So... what's today's story?" Ron asked looking over at the parchment that Harry was hastily scribbling all over.
"Voldemort's back." Harry sighed and Ron rolled his eyes.
"Again?" Ron asked, alarmed. "Is he ever going to give up?" Ron asked. "I am so sick of chasing after him, we really need to fix Azkaban up so all these people stop escaping." Ron sighed.
"He hasn't stopped yet." Harry said with irritability. "Supposedly Crouch is trying to fix it up." Harry said. (Crouch was now Minister)
They stop speaking for a moment. Harry was still scratching away on his clipboard and Ron was quickly searching through different notes on different pieces of parchment. Ron stopped for a minute, looking up at Harry again, and spoke.
"Oh Harry, guess what." Ron said excitingly.
"Huh?" Harry asked, looking back to him.
"Do you remember Seamus?" He asked and Harry shook his head. "You don't remember Seamus? He went to Hogwarts with us!" Ron said in disbelief.
"Oh, the kid who blew everything up... alright yes I remember." Harry thought for a moment. "What about him?" he asked.
"Well he is getting married next month." Ron said happily.
"Seamus is?" Harry asked, amazed. "To whom?" He wondered.
"Well to Parvati Patil, surely you remember her." Ron smiled.
"Oh, of course I do. She is still in contact with Ginny." Harry said looking down at his clipboard.
"I can't believe you don't remember these people." Ron said shaking his head with a laugh.
"I can't believe you do." Harry laughed. "Well the only ones I keep in contact, from when I was at Hogwarts, is you, Ginny, Neville, Lavender, and Luna." Ron looked amused.
"You don't even remember Cho Chang?" Ron asked, sitting back in his chair.
"Who?"
"Oh man, this is sad Harry. It's like you lost your memory." Ron laughed.
"Well I learned to block things out." Harry shrugged.
Ron only shook his head and laughed more, continuing to search through his parchments. Harry scribbled one last quick thing on his clipboard and said:
"I saw your dad this morning." Harry said brightly. "It's been very strange ever since he told me to call him Arthur." He laughed.
"Oh, yeah." Ron said with a smile. "He's been annoying me lately though, keeps wanting me to run errands for him. He keeps wanting me to get him a bunch of muggle things." Ron said, rolling his eyes.
"What wrong with that?" Harry asked, pushing his desk so his rolling chair would roll across the floor. He swung around, searching the bookcase.
"Well nothing, but he asks me every time I see him." Ron said annoyed
"I'm guessing you see him a lot then." Harry said, still searching the bookcase.
"Well yeah, he works here like us." Ron looked at his watch, "Where is he?" Ron asked frustrated.
"Who?" Harry asked, grabbing a book and pushing himself back to his desk. Ron reached over to the desk that was at the side of his, and tapped on the top of it. It was empty. "Oh, him, I don't know." Harry said, feeling stupid for not knowing.
"He's late... where could he be?" Ron asked, looking at his watch.
"I take back not knowing where he is." Ron looked up at Harry. Harry raised his finger and pointed it into the emptiness.
"Hey guys... Sorry I'm late." A man said as he rounded around the tight corner.
"You're really pushing it Longbottom." Harry laughed
"Stop looking at me like that Ron!" Neville said, hitting him playfully on the arm, and walked to his desk.
(Note: Harry and Ron's desks are pushed together, facing each other. And Neville's desk is sideways and facing the ends of Ron and Harry's. Like a rectangle. )
"Neville you're forty minutes late!" Ron said annoyed. "You do this everyday."
"I know, but this morning I had a reason!" Neville protested.
"What?" Harry asked while he watched Ron steam with anger.
"I forgot the number to get the badge." He said blushing.
"That doesn't surprise me." Harry laughed again, and Neville laughed with him.
"Harry you are head of this department... why don't you just fire him already?" Ron asked. Neville hiccupped.
"I'm not going to fire Neville, come off it Ron." Harry said with a laugh, Neville let out a relaxed breath.
"Bless you Harry." Neville smiled, handing him a piece of his chocolate frog. Harry ate it without complaint.
"Thanks Neville." Harry winked. "Ron, stop getting angry." Harry rolled his eyes at him.
Ron said nothing just continued searching through his papers. Harry looked at Neville as they started a personal conversation. Neville smiled at Harry as they talked. Harry was the only one who actually well, accepted Neville.
"So how's Gin?" Neville asked Harry.
"Not good, she has been getting really moody lately." Harry sighed. "I don't know if I did anything or not."
"You didn't." Ron butt in, "She gets moody constantly when it's that time of the month." Ron sighed and Harry looked afraid.
"Oh." He sighed.
"So you're still together then?" Neville asked.
"Yeah." Harry sighed.
They didn't say anything else after that. They just worked on their personal papers and shared a box of chocolates that Arthur's wife, Molly, had sent. Harry stood up when his watch beeped at noon. He stood and began to clip things into his clipboard.
"Well I got to go." Harry said and they two looked up.
"Already?" Neville asked.
"Yeah, this place is getting packed and I promised to visit Molly today." Harry looked at Ron. "You're welcome to join me."
"Nah, mum gets too touchy when I show up there." Ron laughed.
"Alright, see you later guys." Harry smiled.
Neville and Ron said good bye to him, and Harry was no sooner down the halls again. He was still writing down some things. He turned around; someone had tapped him on the shoulder. He smiled, looking at a tall man that Harry knew quite well.
"Oh, Reamus... you scared me." He laughed, dropping his clipboard to his side.
"Sorry Harry, I just wanted to say hello to you on this fine morning." Reamus smiled. Harry knew him as Lupin but that all changed when he became an Auror.
"It is a fine morning." Harry smiled.
"Well I must be going, good day to you." He smiled, walking into the Auror's office.
"Good day." Harry called after him and began walking to the elevator again.
He had boarded the elevator. It was packed with many witches and wizards from different floors. Harry knew most of them, but kept his nose in his clipboard and not noticing them. The elevator twisted around in its weird ways, before it stopped at the first floor.
He returned to the telephone booth that gave a nudge and returned to the surface of the town. He hastily shoved his badge back in the slot and exited out of the room. He looked like an ordinary muggle; he no longer wore robes in this area.
Harry walked down the block and around the corner. It was a beautiful town; it was right near the ocean. Harry's backyard was the ocean; he has a beach in his own back yard. He walked up the stone steps and into the beautiful glass house. The windows were beautiful tinted with different things such as flowers and butterflies.
It was white inside, with a mirror around every corner. The sliding doors, that were straight in front of him, lead onto a balcony. From there he could see the water rolling with the wind. He looked up; he could see his darling girlfriend through the window. He entered back into the house, up the stairs, and around to facing a tall white door.
"Ginny?" He asked after knocking three times.
"Oh..." she opened the door quickly. "Sorry Harry... you scared me." She laughed.
"Sorry." He said and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.
"It's alright." She smiled.
"So, are you ready?" Harry asked, looking over her shoulder and seeing her make - up dumped all over the desk.
"Oh," she smiled innocently. "Yeah, I'll be down in a minute." She shut the door.
"Women and make-up." Harry muttered while rolling his eyes.
He walked down the stairs and into the living room. He opened the drawer in his desk and pulled out a set of keys. He owned a car, that was much like Arthur and Molly's old car. Harry's car could fly, and could turn invisible. It was in the form of a mustang, and was a convertible.
"Ok I'm ready." Ginny announced herself when she walked downstairs twenty minutes later. She wore a pair of ordinary jeans, and a black tube top. Harry looked at her.
"It took you that long to dress in that?" He asked is disbelief.
"Well I wanted to look my best for mum." Ginny said in anger.
"Fine, let's just go." He said irritated. He walked out the door with her leading the way.
Harry followed Ginny into a small building type thing. It was what most muggles would call a garage. Harry opened the door to his car, sat in it, and closed the door. Ginny got on the other side, still fuming with anger, and remained silent. Silent is how Harry liked Ginny best.
Harry stuck the key into the ignition and turned it clockwise. The engine started and Harry pulled back the stick shift into drive mode. Before they left the garage, he hit a little button and it turned the car and everything inside invisible. The car exited the garage, still invisible, and was put into fly mode.
Ginny kept sighing of boredom and hitting her head randomly against the back of the seat. Harry growled... he had enough. He was still concentrating on driving, but looked at Ginny for a brief second and let out another growl.
"Look Ginny, I am sick of you being mad all the time. Why are you so angry?" He asked irritated again.
"You wonder what's wrong?" She asked enraged. "We have been dating since your 6th year and you wonder what's wrong?" She said snippy like.
Harry could read her mind. She wanted to be more than a girlfriend, but Harry was starting to grow apart from her. He was actually sick of her. He couldn't tell her that though, that would break her to pieces. She just hardly turned herself and faced her side door. She growled.
"What you want more? Ginny I can't even explain to you why I haven't made you more than a girlfriend." Harry said lightly, trying not to make her madder.
"You don't love me anymore." She said on the edge of crying. "You don't, do you?" She asked as her eyes were filling with tears.
"Ginny, I do love you. I am just getting sick of you jumping down my throat twenty four seven." He sighed. "For heaven sakes, you even get mad if I'm at work too long." He didn't even know what to do.
"Well you are there a lot, why can't you come home more!" Ginny asked, still crying.
"IT'S. MY. JOB!" Harry growled. "I am head of the department... I can't just get up and leave!" He snipped and Ginny turned to him.
"Is it that you can't or you don't want to?" Ginny asked, still crying. Harry didn't speak. "That's what I though." She snipped and turned to her side of the door again.
Harry didn't want to say anything, he didn't dare to. The house of Molly and Arthur Weasley was soon coming into the clearing. Harry's car's invisibility soon wore off as they landed. Ginny turned to him; they hadn't spoken in twenty minutes or so.
He gave her a gently smile but she sneered back. She picked up her hand and struck it across his face. Ginny removed her self from the car quickly, and slammed the door behind her as she left. She disappeared from Harry's view as she entered her parent's house. Harry stayed back, stroking his cheek with pain.
He got out of the car, slammed his door too and walked to the front step. He hastily kicked stones in every direction as he walked. He came to the door, knocking three times and it opened. A woman with madly red hair answered it. She was short and wore a sort of grubby looking cloak.
"Harry, dear, it's great to see you!" She jumped up and hugged him.
"Molly, how are you?" he asked generously.
"Great dear, I'm just great. Arthur should be here soon, he was called away for a crisis with the muggle world." She said sadly. "He's been called away a lot lately." She sighed in disappointment.
"If it has anything to do with exploding animals, then Arthur already explained." Harry answered; he and Molly had started laughing.
"Oh dear..." She said as she analyzed Harry's cheek closely. "What happened? You're cheek is madly red." She said worried.
"Your daughter slapped me." He mumbled but Molly had indeed heard him.
"Well I'll be having a talk with her later... I thought you two were still together." She said, feeling horrible.
"No it's alright, but we were together this morning. I now, pretty much think its over." Harry said with a relaxed sigh.
"I'm sorry dear, but I have a treat for you." Molly said happily.
"What this time Molly? You have already given me so much. I really don't need anything else." He said comfortingly.
"Oh, you'd be surprised. Go upstairs, take a right up the stairs, and it's the second door on the left." She said smiling madly.
"Alright then." He shrugged and gave in. If he didn't go see what it was, she would be heart broken. Harry headed for the stairs.
"But remember dear, you must knock first!"
Author's Notes:
I suddenly got this awesome idea to make a story where Harry is old enough to be an Auror. This story is actually supposed to be a Harry / Hermione romance, but not yet. You just have to be patient –wink wink-
Well I hope you enjoy, and PWEEEZ tell me what you think? –begs-
Airalynn
POSTED: (SUNDAY) APRIL 10, 2005