Harry Potter and the Heartfelt Promise
Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling. This is purely a work of fan fiction and no personal gain is coming from this story. I do own Phineas Dodson and the few unnamed characters in this chapter.
Warning: This story contains mature content and Homosexual content, if you don't like it then don't read it. You have been warned.
Chapter 1 ~ ARA
Harry had to double take. No. There was no way. But here was the undeniable proof: Malfoy was standing right in front of him and looking just as shocked as he was. No one made a move. The silence between them was starting to get awkward. Malfoy broke the silence first. "So; what are you doing here Potter?" It was more of a sneer than a question. Harry clenched his fists at his sides.
"I'm going to be working here, obviously. What about yourself, Malfoy? Did the Ministry finally find the evidence it needed to put you in Azkaban? Or did daddy pay the witnesses to keep quiet?" A faint blush tinted Malfoy's pale cheeks. He looked furious. Inside, Harry's chest purred triumphantly.
Since the fight with Voldemort and the Death Eaters at Hogwarts, Harry and Malfoy hadn't stayed in touch. Only a year had passed since then, but the distrust was still there. Funny, Harry thought what they'd been through those two terrible days would have been enough to put their childhood feud behind them. Obviously not. A gruff voice broke the tension between them.
"Now, now boys. No need to cause a scene now, is there?" A stout looking man with a clean-shaven face and receding brown hair slicked down onto his head came bustling up from behind Harry. He had red cheeks and a rather shiny face that seemed to draw all attention away from his brightly coloured robes. "My name's Phineas Dodson. I'm head of ARA; the Auror Recruitment Agency. You must be Mr. Potter, an extreme pleasure to meet you young man!"
He grabbed Harry's hand and began to shake it vigorously. "I was so thrilled to hear that you'd signed up for Auror training that I thought I'd come down to the Entrance Hall and greet you personally." He was still practically trying to rip Harry's arm off. Malfoy looked like he was about to say something, but was cut off when Dodson flung Harry's hand aside and grasped Malfoy's in turn.
"And you must be young Mr. Malfoy! I must say I was really looking forward to greeting you into Auror training too. I know your personal experiences with the Death Eaters and You Know Who himself will come in extremely handy in your pursuit to become a full fledged Auror." A smug grin spread over Malfoy's face but in the few seconds it had, Dodson had already latched onto another young man standing timidly by one of the entrance shoots.
Harry glared at Malfoy. Experiences with Death Eaters and you know who himself? Experience of working alongside them and being one of Voldemort's death-threatened victims, more like. He was just about to say this when Dodson came scurrying back over, the unnerved looking youth being dragged along helplessly in his grip.
"Please follow me, boys. We have a lot to get through this morning and I dare say you're not the earliest ones to have gotten here." He flashed a nervous look at his watch and licked his upper lip. "Come along now, not much time left you know!" With that, Dodson spun round and headed for the lifts, the three eighteen year olds following in his wake.
You know who… It was funny how people still refused to say the name, even though he was dead.
They entered a lift Harry had never entered before. It was much like the others, only the woman's voice was different – it was higher pitched and sounded like Aunt Petunia when someone dared to tread dirt onto her carpets. This lift only seemed to go down. Before long they reached their destination "Lower Level One: Floor of Introductory Training and Safety Profiling of the Auror Comity."
Dodson stepped out first, and Harry was reminded of the first time he'd gone to Grimmauld Place. The corridor was dark; lit only by some old dirty lamps lining the walls. There were cobwebs on the ceilings and the overall décor was depressing to say the least. He felt Malfoy shudder next to him. Malfoy. Why was he here, and what was all this about wanting to be an Auror? When it came to serious life-threatening situations, he'd always been a bit of a coward.
Harry didn't have long to consider these thoughts however; as Dodson had already opened another door and led them into a medium sized hall lined with desks. It looked very much like the Great Hall when they'd sat for their OWLs. A few random desks were occupied, but mainly the room was empty. A tall man with scarred features and a piercing stare sat at the desk in the front of the hall, facing the others.
The man motioned for the three new arrivals to sit down whilst Dodson hurried over to him and muttered something into his ear. Harry took a desk and looked round at the hall's other occupants. Other than himself, Malfoy and the timid guy who'd arrived with them, there were two other men about their own age, a young woman also about the same age, an older man staring fixedly at his desk and a much older lady with a clipboard in hand.
Harry had never assumed that becoming an Auror was a very popular job, but the lack of people even signing up for training was not a comforting sight. Ron had already changed his mind and taken the same route his father had taken in the Ministry after a full blown argument with Hermione. Apparently she didn't want him to get hurt, but Harry thought she might also be feeling a little left out after fighting alongside them against Voldemort.
A loud cough brought his attention back to the front of the room, and he noticed Dodson had left. The scarred man pushed back his chair and stood up. "I understand you are all here with the intention of becoming Aurors." He stared at each and every one of them in turn. "After today you will know whether this is the correct path for you to take… Or not." His vision had stopped on the older man. Harry thought that this man must have been trying for a while, and failing.
"Now, you may have all achieved the grades you needed in your OWLs to pursue this career, but that does not mean that you are cut out for the job. I hope those of you unable to deal with this sort of pressure will not come back after today." Again he lingered on the older man, who simply continued to stare at his desk. This scarred Auror reminded Harry slightly of Mad Eye – he didn't hold any punches.
"First thing's first: You will be looking through these leaflets;" he waved his wand and a few leaflets flew from a large stack on his desk over to the hopefuls "and finding out exactly what this work entails." His eyes flicked to the nervous looking lad Harry had entered with. "I hope everyone here has a strong stomach."
Harry suppressed a smile. Today was going to scare away those not completely dedicated to the idea of becoming an Auror. He had a feeling Malfoy wouldn't be returning for the next scheduled turnout. When the word was given, he opened the leaflet to the first image, which the scarred man (who'd incidentally still not revealed his name) had started to explain. He saw Malfoy turn white out the corner of his eye.
They continued to look at horrific images of the after-effects of battles that many Aurors had faced. The images told a grisly tale. However, as much as Harry considered his interest in the subject, it felt more like he was taking this route out of duty. He shrugged off the offending thought and continued sifting through the dark imagery.
The whole day went like that. At the end of the day they were given the date of their next meeting – one week later – and told that it would be held in the same room. The scarred man also revealed that he would tell them his name in this next meeting. He was obviously sure that only those truly trustworthy and dedicated would return. Harry noticed that everyone leaving the room still looked fiercely determined, even the nervous looking young man and Malfoy.
Although, Harry realised, there was something strange about the determination in Malfoy's face. He looked more like he was set on something in particular, grimacing, rather than looking utterly determined to return. It was almost like the day had put him off being an Auror; and he was determined never to become one…? No, that couldn't be right. Harry shook himself slightly. It didn't matter what Malfoy was thinking. All that mattered was that Harry himself felt rather strange.
After everything he had been through with Voldemort, he thought becoming an Auror would be the best option for him to take. He hadn't really considered taking any other career path since Mad Eye had told him about it. But during that day, something had felt wrong. It was like the thought of fighting again, continuing to be the saviour of the wizarding world, was a bitter taste on his tongue.
Somewhere, deep inside, he felt tired; tired of fighting. Tired of risking his life for others. He even felt tired of always being targeted; always being known as "the saviour" of the wizarding world. He was used to the fame and was even okay with the fact that he would one day die. He had faced that already, but that didn't mean he wanted to die if he didn't have to. Besides, Voldemort was gone. Was he really needed to fight anymore?
Worst of all, where at the beginning of the day he was adamant that he wanted to become an Auror, and was assured he would know 100% whether it was the right choice to take by the end of that day – now he wasn't so sure. Today had actually confused him. 'Stop being stupid' he told himself. 'What else could I possibly want to do?'
Becoming an Auror… Continuing to fight for the safety of the wizarding community and safety of muggles… it was what he wanted… Right?
Notes: More happened in this chapter than I originally planned. Constructive criticisms are greatly welcomed; but please, no flames. Please leave a comment! Thank you for reading; I hope you will continue to enjoy Harry Potter and the Heartfelt Promise!
