A/N: Well, after a short holiday break I'm back. Updates should be more regular now as the whole college application process is nearing its end. Please review after you finish reading, I want to improve my writing as much as possible and your thoughts make that possible.

Harry woke up the next morning in his large and comfortable bed, his wife clinging to his side as if he were somehow going to disappear during the night. Rolling over he grabbed her shoulder and gently shook her awake. "Tonks, you have to get up now." he said gently.

"Why?" the woman beside him questioned softly.

"I need to take a shower." Harry answered, kissing her softly before slipping out between her arms and into the slightly cooler early morning air. He walked the short distance to the bathroom and turned on the taps. Shedding his boxers he stepped into the hot water, wincing as it struck against his many bruises from the recent duels. After ten or so minutes under the shower, he turned off the tap and stepped out. Slipping into his robes for the day, he mentally went through his schedule. A simple check up at the infirmary would give him the chance to check on his injured mentor, and then he only had a few meetings to suffer through before spending the rest of the day with his pregnant wife.

Kissing Tonks goodbye before he stepped out of the door to their rooms, Harry moved down the long hallways of his palace. In retrospect, he was still rather astonished that all of this was his. Harry half expected to wake up back in Gryffindor tower, or worse, the cupboard under the stairs at number 4 privet drive. He was shaken out of his musings by the strong smell of the sick and wounded, one that always hung around infirmaries, especially ones that cared for his guards. Whether in training, or more recently against the order, they always managed to get themselves injured. The strong smell given off by the numerous potions and salves served to alert Harry that he was nearing the home of the healers.

As he stepped into the infirmary, he saw that the curtains around Hoel's bed were still drawn, meaning that he was in no condition to entertain visitors. But the sole surviving guard from Harry's detail seemed in fairly good spirits, he was sitting up in bed and despite the bandages covering half his face was reading a large book. As the king neared the bed, the bandaged man attempted to sit up a bit straighter, but Harry waved him off.

"There is little need for the necessities of duty here." Harry said, smiling at the man as he lowered himself into a chair. The guard nodded weakly and returned to his previous position. "So what have the healers told you?" Harry inquired.

"Well my lord, the bones in my legs have been pieced back together, and the burns on my face should be healed by the end of next week." the man replied, setting his book aside now that his king had taken time out of his no doubt busy day to ask about his health.

"That's good to hear. They didn't happen to use skele-grow on you did they?" Harry asked, peering at an irregularly shaped bottle resting on the bedside table.

"Nothing better to mend bones with sir. Although it is foul stuff.".

Harry laughed at the man's description of the potion before answering, "Indeed it is, although I had hoped that the healers had improved the taste since I last had it.".

"If I may ask sir, when did you happen upon skele-grow?" the guard asked hesitantly.

"Well that is an interesting story." Harry said, stoking his chin in thought. "You see, during my second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, there was a house elf who became obsessed with trying to protect me. Now, don't ask me why, but for some reason that involved bewitching a bludger to attack me during a quidditch match. To make a long story short, I broke my arm catching the snitch, and the defense professor at the time vanished my bones instead of mending them. Hence, my encounter with that nasty little potion.".

The guard's eyes had grown slightly wider by the time the story had ended, but he had little time to recover as Harry asked a question of his own, "So who gave you those burns?".

"The big fellow in the auror robes." the injured guard answered.

"That would be Kingsley Shacklebolt. You have no reason to be ashamed of that wound, Kingsley is one of the better duelists in the order." Harry said, lifting the guards spirits greatly. After bidding the man goodbye, Harry walked over to his mentor's bed, pushing the curtains aside, he saw that Hoel had yet to wake up.

"He hasn't woken up yet." the female healer form the day before said from behind Harry, echoing his own observation.

"What are his chances?" Harry questioned in a concerned tone that he found himself using more often than he would have liked.

"With no complications from the potions or undue stress, he should completely recover. Which is a miracle at his age." the healer replied, scanning over the parchment that held notes on her newest patients health.

"That's good to hear." Harry told her warmly, before he turned and strode out of the infirmary. Now there would be only a few meetings and then, the much anticipated time alone with Tonks. Almost surprisingly, he managed to get halfway to the throne room before anything unexpected happened. Just as he turned the corner, his godfather slammed into his chest, effectively stopping Harry in his tracks.

"What in Merlin's name were you thinking!" Sirius yelled after regaining his footing.

"What?" Harry asked, confused by his godfather's outburst.

"The ambush at the Ministry." Sirius said, as if it explained everything.

"What was I thinking, you should be yelling at Dumbledore for this. Since when does the order kill instead of capture, and since when does it ambush people in the Ministry of Magic of all places!" Harry yelled back after catching his godfather's meaning.

"You should have apparated out of there!" Sirius hollered back, ignoring Harry's statements.

"I wasn't going to abandon my men!" Harry yelled before adding, "And what has given you the right to question anything I do, the last decision you made sent me to prison for two years!".

Sirius' eyes fell towards the floor, his hard demeanor changed instantly into one that expressed complete sorrow. "Yeah, right. I'll just go then.". he then turned and walked quickly away, wiping a few tears out of his eyes as he went.

"Sirius wait!" Harry called after him, but the man had already turned the far corner and gone. Perhaps he had overreacted, but his anger over the injury of his mentor was driving him at this point. Next, it drove him straight to the room that housed Remus Lupin. As he reached the newly reinforced door, he instructed the guard to make sure that they were not interrupted. "Hello Remus.".

"Good morning." the werewolf replied, his eyes still on the single book that had been granted to him.

"I had a run in with the order last night." Harry said. This tore Moony's eyes up from the book.

"Where?" the older man asked.

"At the Ministry of Magic." Harry replied, his tone still miraculously even.

"Why there of all places?" Remus asked, confused by the location.

"I will answer your question as so as you have answered my own." Harry declared, earning a slight nod from his former defense against the dark arts professor. "When did it become common practice among the order to ambush anyone deemed unfriendly?".

Remus recoiled slightly at Harry's tone of voice before replying, "Times have changed Harry, we are at war.".

"You didn't answer my question Moony, since when do the forces of the 'light' resort to death eater tactics to kill rather than apprehend their enemies?" Harry ground out through clenched teach, his green eyes pulsing with anger.

Remus sighed before answering, "Shortly after you were sent to Azkaban, Voldemort stepped up his offensive against the wizarding world, after a few order members had been gravely injured, or in some cases killed, we decided to switch tactics. It worked, we have captured more death eaters with far less injuries.".

"At the expense of Dumbledore's moral high ground no less." Harry added thoughtfully. "So the old man finally let Moody take charge of the actual missions?".

"Yes." Remus admitted after a moment of internal struggle.

"Interesting. But to answer your earlier question, it happened at the ministry because it so happens that Fudge asked me to attend that worthless meeting of his." Harry said.

"Harry, why did you bring Tonks into all this?" Remus asked suddenly. Harry seemed momentarily stunned by the question before answering.

"I never meant to, she grabbed me before I left the prison. After that I couldn't let her go, so she stayed with me. One thing led to another and we got married." Harry answered.

"I see," Moony said, his face falling, "is that all?"

"For now. Enjoy the rest of your stay." Harry said, smirking at the older man before leaving the room. Harry nodded to the guards outside before turning the corner and making his way to the throne room, where Neville was waiting.

"What did you do to Dumbledore?" he asked outright.

"We had a disagreement." Harry answered simply.

"A disagreement! He stumbled back into the castle exhausted in the middle of the night." Neville exclaimed.

"Ineteresting, but how did you happen to catch that?" Harry asked.

"I used the marauders map." Neville answered.

"How in Merlin's name did you get your hands on that?" Harry asked, curious about the fate of one of his old possessions.

"After your sham of a trial, Ron grabbed whatever he wanted out of your school trunk, including your father's cloak and the map." Neville said, a trace of disgust on his face.

Harry managed to keep him anger under control and said, "At least the map is being put to good use.".

"That it is my lord, I'm sorry for not telling you before." Neville replied.

"It is no matter." Harry said dismissively, allaying Neville's fear of reprisal.

"Oh, one more thing my lord. You may want to keep this somewhere safe." Neville said before tossing a package in his direction and portkeying back to Hogwarts. Harry looked at the package for a moment, confusion written on his face, before he opened it and his fathers invisibility cloak fell out onto his lap. Harry smiled widely for the first time that morning.

A/N: I hope you liked it. These filler chapters are often the most difficult for me to write, so after three or four re-writes i submit this for your review.

A/N2: Harry calls his wife Tonks still because she hates her first name and he can hardly call her "wife" so, her name stays Tonks in their conversations.