Chapter 20: What was that?

Harry's eyes widened and his body stiffened as something intangible shifted into place inside him, and clicked.

"Oh, shit," he said softly, petting James' hair. James chuckled a bit and nuzzled into Harry's neck.

"Can't say I've ever had that reaction," James drawled slowly, then dragged his tongue over Harry's collarbone. "Are you all right?" At Harry's non-response, James drew back. "Harry?"

Harry looked up at James, trying not to hyperventilate. "James … I'm sorry."

James frowned. "For what?"

"Please don't freak out. Please," Harry pleaded.

James gathered Harry to him, disengaging from his body and curling them both to their sides, and looked into Harry's emerald eyes. "Darling, you seem to be the one freaking out. I'm fine. In fact, I don't think I've ever felt better."

Inexplicably, tears appeared in those eyes. "James, my magic … did you feel that?"

"I think they felt that in Scotland," James confirmed. "Is sex always like that for wizards?"

Harry shook his head and buried his face in James's neck. "No. It only happens when magic decides the participants in the act need to be bound together."

"Bound together?" James raised an eyebrow. "Did you just marry me, Harry?"

Harry mumbled into his neck.

"What was that?" James grinned widely.

Harry drew back. "The term is bonded. I didn't even know that could happen with a non-magical. I'm so sorry, James. If I'd known that was possible, I'd have warned you."

James stroked Harry's messy black hair. "Sex doesn't always lead to bonding, does it?"

"No, only between two who have genuine love for each other, and who magic deems compatible," Harry said miserably. "It's the basis for the persistence of the legends of soul mates. It's not that we're literally one soul split in half; it's that our souls are compatible, and magic took advantage of our physical and emotional state to bind us together. It's a recognition that we're, well, meant to be, I guess."

"And you think I'd be unhappy with that?"

"You didn't have a choice, James! Magic just bound you. You didn't even know you could be bound. And now you're stuck with me," Harry said quietly. "I don't even know if you wanted anything close to a lifetime commitment to me."

James petted Harry some more, soothing long strokes of his hands over Harry's back and. "Do you recall my telling you that I wanted to see what there could be between us?"

"Yes."

"Do you recall my using the term 'partner' to describe your relationship to me in my first introduction to Severus?"

"Yes."

"And do you recall my telling you that I was ready to find James again?"

"Yes."

James kissed Harry's forehead gently. "Then you should know already that I was prepared to see if we could be life partners. My track record is not the best with love, as you know. In the field, I have to use sex as a weapon sometimes to get what we need to complete a mission. We'll have to talk about that, Harry, as I don't know yet how to reconcile that. But I already know you'd never betray me, as I would never betray you; that I love you, truly; and I was already planning to ask you to live with me, and try to build a life with me. Maybe magic knew all of that?"

"Maybe." Harry thought past his own sense of guilt at binding James without his overt consent, and realized that the binding only could have happened with James' full consent, however implicit it was. "Probably."

"How do you feel about being bound to me?" James asked softly.

Thinking past his initial self-recriminations, Harry thought about that. How did he feel about being with James for life? He assessed the place in his being that had clicked as the white light had encased him, and realized he felt pretty damn good about it.

Harry smiled up at James. "I can't imagine a better partner than a man I respect, admire, and love. I do want to be with you, James, and if you'd asked me before magic stepped in, I'd have said yes to building a life with you."

James squeezed Harry tightly, then bent slightly to lay his lips on Harry's own in a gentle kiss. "Then I'd say magic just recognized what was already there."

IMBM

The repercussions of an accidental magical bonding didn't surface immediately. Life went on with the same routine, though James moved the rest of his personal things into Q's flat and they alerted M to their partnership, per regulations. Mallory made no fuss about the relationship, and privately thought it might do the pair of them good.

They opted not to formally file for a civic partnership in the non-magical world-the potential for a security breach was too high-but did designate each other as beneficiaries on human resources paperwork, and listed each other as next-of-kin with Medical.

A week after their accidental bonding, Alec swept into Q's office with a jaunty air, waving a newspaper in his hand.

"Q, dear fellow, I went by a certain shop today and spotted this on the counter," Alec glanced around and gave a discreet wave of his new wand and a muttered "Muffliato." Q rolled his eyes at idea that a privacy charm was the first thing the Weasleys had taught the agent. Alec continued, "And I do believe I have figured out who you are to the magical world." He spread the front page out.

It was the Daily Prophet.

"Harry Potter bonds to a Bond!"

"Seriously?" Q groused. "Well, that didn't take long. How did they know?"

Alec shook his head. "They don't know much. I only know it's you because, look, there, they've listed my good friend James Bond as being married to a man named Harry Potter. Married? Seriously, Q?" Alec rolled the paper back up. "When? How?"

"Give me that," Q said, grabbing for the paper. He flattened it back out and began reading. "Ah, that."

"What?"

"I'd forgotten that paperwork is automatically generated in the Ministry of Magic for bondings, births and deaths," Q muttered. "Someone came across the record generated when we bonded, and took it to the Prophet. Typical."

"So, who's Harry Potter?" Alec asked playfully.

Q scowled at him. "Someone who's been hiding from the magical world for more than a decade. I can't believe I'm still front-page news."
A tap at his door signaled Q to a visitor, and he waved a hand to dispel the privacy ward. "James? Something wrong?"

"No, nothing," James said as he settled himself on Q's visitor couch. "Saw Alec making a beeline for Q branch and thought I'd see what got him so riled up."

Q handed him the paper, and James' eyebrows shot up. "So much for private, then," he muttered to himself, reading the article as Q fumed and Alec made himself comfortable on the edge of Q's desk.

"This changes things," Q muttered. "Lucius Malfoy will see that piece and know I'm still around somewhere. It will speed his timetable. Or make him rabbit."

Alec looked at Q. "Are you really that important?"

"So they say," Q said dryly.

James read to the end of the article, then looked up. "You're right, Q. This is going to make them move, one way or another."

"We'll need to move first," Q said briskly, and started texting.

IMBM

A somber group met in an MI6 conference room. Kingsley, M, Severus, Alec, James and Q reviewed the surveillance reports and looked at potential mission specs. After briefly introducing Alec to Kingsley and Severus, Q took over the briefing.

"What it comes down to is this: from a British intelligence perspective, this group is a threat. We need to eliminate the threat," Q said firmly. "MI6 is well within its purview to do so. We need a plan. And we likely need more magical assistance."

"I don't see why we need more than you and Severus, Q," Kingsley said, looking things over. "With your resident double-ohs, you would make a strong stealth team, in and out, eliminate the target and call it a day."

Q looked up. "I'm more valuable behind the scenes than in the field."

"Bollocks," Kingsley said bluntly. "You're the most powerful wizard we know of today. In this case, we need you out front and doing damage."

M shook his head. "I don't know that I agree with that. You're using Q as a club when he's more useful, ultimately, behind the scalpel that excises threats."

"You're too used to thinking about Harry Potter as a weapon against the dark, Shacklebolt," Severus reflected. "Too used to the mentality that one powerful wizard can make the only difference."

Kingsley closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Perhaps, but my statement is true. The sheer raw power Q controls is feared by our community. It's that fear, as well as his power, that will do the most damage."

Q looked coldly back at Kingsley. "I will not be sacrificed for the greater good any longer, Kingsley. I died for that community once, and I will not do it again. Forget about the power of my birth name, and look at me-Q. Quartermaster of MI6. I do more good here behind the scenes than I ever would as a mouthpiece for the Ministry."

Kingsley blew out the breath, Severus looked vaguely approving, and James and Alec smirked. M looked around the table, and leaned forward. "Gentlemen, this sounds like an old argument. Let's look at the facts. We have a group of at least 50 magic users looking to incite a revolution in Britain. We know where they meet. We have established their routine, so we know when they meet. Surveillance tells us a large meeting will be held two days from now, on Friday, in the evening, in the Egyptian warehouse. New weapons will be displayed there, and the current head of the Ouroboros will be there as well.

"The mission will be to take out all of the players at once. The head of Ouroboros and his lieutenants need to be executed, and the rest rounded up. Are we agreed?"

Nods came from all quarters.

"Then what do we need to do to accomplish that?"

They worked out a plan.

Q would provide magic dampening field generators, which would be placed around the warehouse and activated by 006 and 002, working in tandem. When active, a disillusioned 007 would use a sniper rifle from a carefully placed, disillusioned tower, to take out Malfoy and his lieutenants from a distance, and 006 and 002 would use non-magical gas bombs to put the crowd to sleep. They'd bind the individual members with zip ties and magic suppressing bracelets and then portkey the lot to MI6 holding cells for processing and interrogation.

Q would be their eyes and ears, and if necessary, would provide on-site magical back-up in disguise. He would not alert the magic users that Harry Potter was alive, well and still working against the dark. M would stay at Q-branch, monitoring the mission and taking over for Q if his magical assistance became necessary.

The group broke up, plan in place, and Q headed back to his branch to start assembling equipment. Severus took Alec aside for additional magical training (though honestly, he told Alec, for this kind of thing a handgun was just as effective than a wand), and James headed to the rifle range for target practice.

That left Kingsley and M to parse out the diplomatic details.

If all went according to plan, Ouroboros would be dissolved in forty-eight hours.