Author's Note: It's been a while, yet again… I'm sorry that I can't give you guys quicker updates, but school and friends and family are consuming a majority of my time. Hope you understand! Chapter's a bit rushed, but it's basically a filler... and I wrote it at 12 in the morning, so forgive me!

Chapter Seven
Mistakes

Harry had been in the middle of spreading a large dollop of cream cheese onto his toasted bagel when the owl came two days after arriving back home. The large barn owl had been sitting on the other side of the window for two minutes before Harry even realized it was there, and he quickly drew open the windows to let the owl in. A tiny, rolled up piece of parchment was attached to its outstretched claw, and a dreary expression on its flat face.

"Thank you," Harry said, tearing off a piece of his bagel and feeding it to the owl. As the owl nibbled on the bit of toast, Harry slipped off the tie that held the note in place and unrolled it as Tonks wound herself between his legs. Silently, he read the note to himself

Harry,

Your idea sounds absolutely brilliant, but it's risky as well. Ron and I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize your career. However, if you believe that you can get some Auror's on the task, then do so.

Please send us a note back either right when you get into the office on your first day back, or a few days after to let us know what's going on exactly.

We love you and support you. We hope everything will work out.

Sincerely,

Hermione and Ron

Rolling the parchment back up, Harry lifted his gaze to peer outside the window, deep in thought. He had been hoping to get into the office yesterday, but the Minister had insisted that Harry take an extra day to himself. Therefore, he would be going in to work today for the first day in a week and two days. Harry knew also that immediately when he arrived in his office, he would be arranging for a meeting with the Auror's to get some men on the job.

Harry stuffed the parchment into the pocket of his robes and shoved the rest of his bagel into his mouth so his hands would be free to grab his bag from the hook by the door. He snatched his coat off of the chair by the door as well and nodded a bye to Tonks before closing and locking the door to his home.

"The quicker I get there, the better," he thought. Closing his eyes and turning on the spot, Harry Apparated himself to the alleyway beside the telephone booth that acted as the entrance to the Ministry of Magic.

Quickly dialling M-A-G-I-C, Harry hurriedly told the voice which level he was proceeding to, and then stepped off when it arrived. His office was directly across from the telephone booth, and he dashed across the corridor that separated them before anyone could notice he had arrived. He needed to arrange for a meeting as soon as possible.

Harry's office was enormous, stretching high above his head and very long in width. His large oak desk was cluttered with parchments, quills and ink bottles, and he had hundreds of newspaper clippings tacked up on the wall behind him of the most dangerous wizards in the United Kingdom. A majority of the clippings had large red X's over their faces to ensure that they had been dealt with, either deceased or sent to Azkaban. The filing cabinets that lined two other walls were stuffed with parchments and fighting to stay locked up, and the two visitor seats across from his desk were stacked with parchments.

"Scourgify," Harry muttered, pointing his wand at the scattered objects around the room. Parchments, ink bottles, newspapers, quills, cages, boxes, books and other magical objects went soaring around the room to their original places. Soon, Harry's desk was cleared and organized, the filing cabinets tightly and neatly closed, and everything was back in place.

"If you weren't such a pig, you wouldn't need to use that spell every morning," a familiar female voice said from behind Harry. He turned to see Leslie Willard standing in the doorway, a fellow Auror at the Ministry. Harry knew that Leslie had always had a small crush on him, since she always took extra time in the morning to prep herself for work. Today, for example, she wore a skin-tight black dress that stopped halfway down her thigh and large black high-heeled boots underneath her crimson robes, and her brown hair hung in loose curls down her body.

"Morning," Harry said absentmindedly. Normally, he would've spent a little extra time speaking with Leslie - he had always flirted with her just a little bit, since she was attractive after all. However, with so much on his mind this morning, Harry chose to forgo that idea.

"How was your Christmas holidays?" Leslie asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Good, yours?" Harry said as he searched through the filing cabinets, his coat still on and his bag still slung over his shoulder.

"Wonderful. Did you get my gift?" Leslie asked hopefully.

Harry had received Leslie's gift - it had been stuffed in his mailbox, something he very rarely used, when he checked the mail the next morning. She had given him a large box of homemade treacle fudge and a Christmas card that revealed her leaning against a window in her home, wearing red lingerie lined with white fur and a Santa Clause hat.

"Yes, thank you," Harry muttered, retrieving a file and throwing it on his desk. He realized Leslie had not yet left, so he lifted his eyes. "Is there anything you need?"

"Oh, well, just wondering how your holidays were," Leslie stuttered. "Are you, uh, busy?"

"A bit." Harry cleared his throat and pointed his wand to his throat, using the same charm that he remembered so clearly from fourth year. "Would all Aurors please report to conference room A4 for an emergency meeting at this time? Thank you." He cleared his throat again and collected a large stack of files from his desk, shuffling past Leslie without a second glance in her way as he made his way to the conference room four doors down from his office.

The conference room was the same size as Harry's office, which says something considering the enormous table can seat up to one hundred people. Only two Aurors were already there; Leslie, who had somehow beaten Harry there, and Colin Creevey. Harry took the seat at the front of the table, closest to Leslie and Colin, as the rest of the Aurors began to file in.

"Are we waiting on anyone else?" Harry asked, peering around the room. There were exactly twenty-five Aurors, including Harry, in the Ministry and he took a quick head count to ensure everyone was there. Satisfied, he began to shuffle through his papers until he found a newspaper clipping, and he held it up for everyone to see.

"Has anyone ever heard of these killings?" Harry asked, swivelling his torso side to side to make sure everyone had taken a look at the article. A hand raised in the table, and Harry peered over to see Leslie's arm raised.

"Care to tell us what you know, Leslie?" he suggested, still holding the article up.

Leslie hesitated, gazed around the room, and cleared her throat. "Well… Three years ago, there were about ten Muggle couples who were found in their lofts… dead. And the Muggle authorities performed numerous autopsies, couldn't find anything wrong with them. And I know that the Minister knew exactly what had caused their deaths; the Avada Kadavara Curse. But the wizard - or witch - who performed the curse was never found, and they knew his name but they couldn't find a single source of him even existing afterwards. They thought he died because it never happened again."

Harry smiled. "Everything you said up to his death is completely true." Hushed voices scattered around the room and Harry lifted a hand to silence the Aurors. He reached into another folder and lifted out a profile sheet and handed it to Colin, who was on his right, and suggested that he pass it around.

"The man's name was Lorenzo Florence. Though it's true that the magical authorities did not find any sign of him for the last three years, I can ensure you all that the man is not dead. How? Because I met him a week ago."

The Aurors all gasped and stared up at Harry in shock. No one spoke for a minute, unable to believe whether or not Harry was telling them the truth.

"Where?" the youngest Auror, eighteen-year-old Alexei Cart asked.

"He is engaged to an old friend of mine. And the reason he has not been found is because he has hidden his identity under a different name," Harry explained.

"What is his fake name?" Leslie asked.

"This is what we are meeting here for today." Harry shuffled through a pile of files and extracted another piece of parchment. His own handwriting was spread across the page.

"I am preparing a plan to catch Lorenzo, though it's very difficult."

An Auror snorted down the table, and Harry glared as he saw his least favourite employee smirking up at him - Destery Hunter. "How is it difficult? We go in and bag the guy!"

Harry shook his head. "His fiancée is a close friend, and very close to my heart. I wish to do this so that very little stress and hurt is inflicted on her. Therefore, we can not leap into the act immediately."

"How do you propose we do this then?" Destery muttered.

"Spying." Harry tapped the parchment in his hand so it levitated in the air, and a quill shot out from his bag and began to scribble words down on the parchment as he spoke. "Destery, Colin and Alexei will be the first ones to patrol. Tonight would be efficient. Please make sure you all having cloaking charms on you, we can not be seen. Then in two nights, Leslie, Marcus, and Sherman will do another patrol. Jesla, Harmon and Cove will patrol the night two days after that."

"What about the rest of us?" an Auror called out from the table.

"The rest of you continue on your own cases," Harry said with an apologetic smile. "I only need ten people for the job, including myself. I promise that the rest of you will be given the next special task if it should arise."

The Aurors who had not been assigned to anything mumbled and moaned, raising themselves from their seats as they began to file out of the conference room. The nine others sat and waited with Harry as he continued on.

"Is anyone familiar with the whereabouts of the Burrow?" Harry asked. Once again, Leslie was the only person to raise her hand.

"I can show everyone where it is tonight, given the cloaking charms are on," Leslie suggested, eager to help Harry.

"Good idea. Once everyone knows, I only want the three assigned to the spying tonight to stay behind and watch over the Burrow. Ensure you bring your broomsticks and you may want to purchase Extendable Ears if you do not have them, because extra help will be needed. Also bring some sort of recording device, whether it be your wands or notebooks. Jot down anything you hear that may be suspicious and please see if you can locate the speaker based on their appearance."

The Aurors nodded and began to raise to their feet, hesitant to see if Harry was done. When he nodded that he was, they all left the room. Harry took the time to himself to sit at the conference table and write Hermione a reply to her letter.

Hermione,

I just had a conference with the Aurors. I've set up a plan for them, where I'm going to have three Aurors monitoring the Burrow every night. If you hear any suspicious noise outside, it's only them. Make sure that they aren't found at all, if you can. Anything that seems suspicious to you should also be brought back to me.

Everything will be fine.

Harry

Rolling up the parchment, Harry made his way back towards his office, where he would ensure the note was sent via owls. He gathered up all his things and shoved them back into his bag, feeling as though a large burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Perhaps I'll be able to breathe again," he murmured to himself.

That night, Harry once again found himself trudging through the marshy field that lead him to Bronxville, his fur-rimmed bomber jacket the only thing separating him from the windy winter conditions. A sense of déjà vu fell over him again as he realized that only a week and a half ago, he had been doing this very same act for the very same reason; going to meet up with Bryson for a drink. Hopefully, Harry thought, he wouldn't stand him up this time.

Matilda's Den was packed tight and it didn't surprise Harry in the least; it was New Year's Eve. There was a large crystal ball standing on a table in the middle of the room, with a handful of people crowded around it and watching it - Big Ben was behind the misty fog inside of the crystal ball. The rest of the witches and wizards in the bar were crowded around various sections, holding bottles of Firewhisky and Butterbeer with party hats on their heads. In the crowd of them all, Harry saw Bryson standing at the back of the room with a bright smile and his arm around a girl - his girlfriend, Cherise.

"Happy New Year!" Bryson said happily, clapping Harry on the back as he joined them. "Glad you could meet up with us."

"Anytime." Harry smiled at Bryson, then smiled at Cherise. She was extremely pretty with dark hair and green eyes, and would most likely break Bryson's heart later on. She was a nice enough girl, but Harry knew that his newest best friend had a hard time with girlfriends. He normally found the prettiest one, dated them for a couple of months and ended up having his heart broken because the girls usually were looking for "something else"; in other words, they thought they could do better.

"Cherise brought her friend with her… she thought you two would hit it off," Bryson said, hiccupping. He was obviously already drunk, because Bryson knew perfectly well that Harry would be trying to get back together with Ginny the minute she learned about "Ethan's" secret. However, Harry turned to see who Cherise had brought, and jumped at the sight of the familiar face; Leslie Willard, dressed in the tightest and shortest dress he had ever seen.

"Leslie," Harry croaked.

"H-Harry," Leslie stuttered, her eyes wide in surprise as she turned to face her work crush.

Cherise frowned. "You two know each other?" she said.

"We work together," the two said in unison, half smiling. Harry knew that this was turning out to be an incredibly bad idea already, considering he had been planning on getting drunk tonight for the first time in two years. Things would definitely change now, since he didn't want to do anything he'd regret later on.

Thought it wasn't as if Leslie was non-attractive or annoying; she was absolutely breathtaking and incredibly smart, and Harry felt absolutely touched that she was attracted to him. Perhaps if Ginny wasn't in the picture, and perhaps if they didn't work together, something could build with the two of them.

"Bought you a Firewhisky, Harry," Bryson hiccupped, grabbing a sealed bottle of Firewhisky from the bar and handing it to him. Harry smile awkwardly and clinked his bottle against Bryson, opening it and taking a small sip.

"Crowded tonight," Leslie said, obviously trying to make small talk with Harry as Bryson and Cherise began to talk to themselves in private.

"That's to be expected, really," Harry said, raising his voice so she could hear him over the other people in the bar. "Matilda's Den is always crowded on special occasions."

"This is my first time," Leslie shouted back, taking a swig of her Butterbeer. "Call me a virgin."

Harry's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

Leslie blushed as she realized what she had said. "I meant… you know… a Matilda's Den virgin… I've had sex… I, well, you know…"

Harry laughed. "It's okay, I understand."

One hour and nine Firewhisky's later, Harry was howling along with the rest of the crowd when the countdown had begun. Everyone had crowded around the crystal ball in the middle of the room and watched as numbers flashed on the screen, counting down from ten and the image of the live Big Ben taping in the background.

"TEN… NINE… EIGHT… SEVEN… SIX… FIVE… FOUR… THREE… TWO… ONE… HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Harry screamed with the others. Loud cheers rose in the crowd and couples turned to kiss their partners and dates. Without even thinking, a drunk Harry joined in and grabbed Leslie around the waist to plant an enormous, deep kiss on her lips. Leslie, also drunk, enthusiastically kissed him back.

"Happy New Year!" Harry shouted again, pulling away with a lopsided grin on his face.

"Let's get out of here," Leslie shouted back, swaying on the spot and giggling from the alcohol she had consumed.

"Okay!" Harry grabbed Leslie's hand and completely ignored Bryson and Cherise as he made a beeline for the front door of Matilda's Den. His head was swimming with blurry images and thoughts, and he found himself outside within seconds. Soon, he had Apparated both of them to the front of his house, smiling and swaying on the doorstep as the process had been a little difficult for him in his drunk state.

"Harry Potter, I can finally have you," Leslie giggled, throwing her arms around Harry's neck and pushing them inside as she pressed her lips against his.

"Sure!" Harry hiccupped, falling back into his place and kicking the door closed once they were inside. Clumsily, the two of them began to peel off their clothes as they stumbled backwards up the stairs towards Harry's bedroom. Harry had absolutely no idea what he was doing, but he knew that he felt really good at the moment and that he was definitely into Leslie right now.

Harry's mind was similar to thick fog as he walked backwards upstairs, as if the insides of the crystal ball that had stood in the middle of the pub were now filling his brain. He knew something about what they were about to do was bad, although he couldn't figure out what. He knew he still cared about Ginny, but images of a naked Leslie filled his imagination and he began to walk a little quicker. Leslie's lips were everywhere on him - his mouth, his cheeks, his chin, his nose - and he had a hard time finding a safe place to put his hands because she kept swatting them away.

Once upstairs, Leslie managed to find Harry's room and guided him in there, while he walked backwards still. The fireplace immediately turned on and the dim flicker of the flames cast shadows along the walls as Leslie tore off her sweater and threw it over her shoulder. A half-naked Harry, who was down to his jeans and boxers by now, stood at the end of the bed while Leslie stood in front of him, wearing only the lingerie she had worn that night. Harry took a moment to himself, mouth hanging open and eyes glassy as he stare over Leslie's body.

"Wow," he chuckled.

"Do me," she giggled, walking forward. Harry grinned dreamily as Leslie pushed him back onto the bed and crawled over him, her legs on either sides of his waist and her lips hungrily finding his. Their hands desperately grasped at the remaining articles of clothing they wore, and they flung them off clumsily and with some difficulty.

"Do you have a… thingymajigger?" Leslie asked, her breathing ragged and her eyes glazed over. Harry wore the exact same expression with his mouth hanging open as he stared up at her.

"A what?"

"You know… what's it called… a condom? Things Muggles use?"

"OH!" Harry leapt from the bed and dove sideways to reach into his bedside table, where a pack of condoms lay inside. He took one out, tore it open with his teeth, and handed it to Leslie.

"I'll do it!" she exclaimed, although she already had it in her hand when she said it. She manoeuvred herself down so she could wrap the condom around Harry's length, making sure it was on tight before she was on top of him once more.

"Let'er rip!" she giggled. Harry snorted with laughter as he positioned himself underneath Leslie and buried his length deep inside her.

A pounding ache and the burning of bile in his throat was how Harry awoke the next morning. He groaned in agony and clutched at his head, the throbbing pain growing more and more as his eyes began to open to reveal the bright sunlight from outside. The fireplace had burnt out only a few minutes before, since a soft tumble of smoke circled away from the wood inside it, and Tonks was curled up on the floor in front of it.

Sitting up and ignoring the searing pain that grew worse in his brain from doing so, Harry groped his bedside table for his glasses. He found them and lifted them to his face to slide them on, blinking and adjusting his eyes to the room. He was sitting in his bedroom, of course, but had no recollection of how he got there in the first place. And he was completely naked, which was strange; usually he wore at least pyjama bottoms to bed, never nothing. Suddenly, Harry realized that the other half of his bed seemed to have a weight that caused it to sink in.

Turning his head, Harry choked back a scream of shock as he saw the silhouette of a female body underneath the covers beside him, her back to him. She had soft brown curls that tumbled down her bare back and shoulders, and her side was rising and lowering with her slow breaths.

"What the fuck," Harry muttered, blinking again to make sure what he seeing was not a hallucination. At his words, the female rolled over in his bed to reveal her identity.

"Leslie?!" Harry exclaimed, pulling his blankets up over his body.

"Harry!" Leslie seemed equally shocked and jumped up, covering her own body with the blankets. The two stared at one another for a moment, completely shocked and confused, before it finally hit them.

"We had sex," they said in unison. Harry swallowed.

"This is bad," he muttered, his head falling into his heads. Not only had he had sex and not remembered a thing about it - while he was in love with someone else, as well - but he had had sex with a co-worker. This would not be good for his career.

"I-I don't remember anything," Leslie said, her eyes watering. "Are you sure we had sex?"

Harry wordlessly pointed across the room, where a single used condom lay beside their bundle of clothes. Leslie frowned and pulled the sheets tight around her body.

"We drank a lot, didn't we? I remember that. I remember you had… almost ten Firewhiskies, I think… and I had a lot of Butterbeer… twelve, I think. And I don't remember anything after that," she said, her forehead rested in the palm of her hand.

Harry sighed and raised his head. "I don't think anyone should know about this."

Leslie snorted. "Harry, I wouldn't tell a soul. We both know how bad this is four our career reputations. Especially you. I have no intention of getting you removed from the Head Auror office."

Harry nodded. He knew Leslie was smarter than that and was extremely grateful, if he had to be grateful about anything, that he had had sex with her rather than a ditzy intern or assistant for the Minister. God knows that they would automatically turn him in.

"Do you remember… anything?" Leslie asked shyly, biting her lip and looking over at Harry.

"Good question," he said. Harry took a moment to rack his brain for any slight idea of memory. He knew that he had Apparated at some point last night, and he remembered being asked to do her. And he did it. But other than that, the night was a blur.

"Not much," he responded.

Leslie frowned. "Well, let's keep it that way." She stood up and brought the top sheets with her, leaving Harry with the bottom ones. "I should I should get going."

Harry watched as she grabbed her clothes and walked into his bathroom. She emerged five minutes later fully changed with a sorrow look on her face.

"I'll see you at work," she said, and she left.